Hepatitis C Management
Ask The Experts
Questions
Is a viral load of 3,500,000 IU/mL considered high in a patient with genotype 1a hepatitis C? If so, what are the implications for treatment or development of complications? The patient has recently contracted the virus and does not know whether to attempt treatment.
A viral load higher than 700,000 IU/mL is considered high, but there is no correlation between viral load and the degree of liver damage. A high viral load is not a contraindication to treatment with pegylated interferon and ribavirin. A low viral load has been identified as a factor favoring better treatment outcomes, but patients with high viral loads also have a reasonable chance for successful treatment and should be considered for therapy.
For more information, see the sections on viral kinetics and predictors of response in the Hepatitis C Management monograph.
